Sans Filter

Fun Stuff

2008-08-20T11:15:00.002-04:00

The Biggest Douchebag Around
Here is a link to a phone message that I heard played on the radio this morning. It is not to be missed. I guess this guy Dimitri met Olga on the street and she mistakenly gave him her card. The two messages that you hear are the result of that mistake.

Breakup letter
Here is a breakup letter between Sarah and Davey of Indianapolis. I don't know if this is true or not, I could not verify it on Snopes. But it is funny anyway.

Date: Wed, 1 Jun 2005 14:16:18 -0700 (PDT)
From: “D.”
Subject: D. presents: “An Ode to Instability”
To: “Heather”

Friends, Some of you may remember by ex-girlfriend S. . I recently recieved a letter from her. I would appreciate it if you would take the time to read it and review my response. I hope all of you are well.

May 23, 2005

Dear D. :

I have had a difficult time, over the past few years, achieving closure of our relationship. It is time for me to seek this. I have gone through the appropriate stages of anger, remorse, sadness. It is now time for me to close this chapter of my life. I am trying to recapture my life and gain a sense of identity back. In my professional life I have done this, but my personal life struggles. For so long I/We were “S. and D.”, that it is hard to gain my own identity back. I am not worried about my career; I will soon succeed even my wildest dreams. I am just stunted by my personal life.

I am ready to release you from my life. I also on a weekly basis encounter people who want to tell me about you or have a discussion about you. I do not want to deal with this anymore. I do have a proposal on how to handle this.

I am ready to no longer be forced to deal with your presence. As to how to deal with it, I propose the following:

1. I’ve heard you have an apartment on the West side. You need to move out of the West side of Indianapolis, this has always been my side of town, I own a house here, and do not rent like you. I grew up here, and always want to live here. I would prefer if you were to leave Indianapolis all together, but I know this is more than I can ask.I do not want to risk running into you at any store.

2. We should officially divide our friends. Particularly Jim, Jillian, Amy, and Ed. You should write them, thanking them for the opportunity to be their friend and explain why you can no longer be in contact with them. I can provide you with addresses, if you need.

3. I will stay out of Republican politics. I promise not to get involved with any Republican politics, unless my father runs for judge, and than I reserve the right to work on his campaign.

4. I would like you to not have anything to do with all thingsCathedral. I feel I should have ownership of the school since my motherworks there and my brother and sisters went there. You are more tied toWabash. This should be where you dedicate your alumni status. I will be involved in Cathedral. When the time of reunions comes up, I am willing to say that you can have the reunions ending in “0″ years and I will take the”5″ years. So you can have 10 years and I will take 25 years.

5. I will avoid Wabash contacts. The few guys from the house I still speak to on a rare basis, I will not. I will also discourage any male offspring I have from attending Wabash.

I know some of these things seem a bit harsh, but I feel they are for the best. I do not ever really wish to see you again. I know that this will of course happen beyond my control, but I think we should do our best to avoid what we can.

It is my sincere hope that you understand, and do take the time torespond. This is my last request of you.

With fondness,

S.

May 31, 2005

Dear S. ,

Thanks for your letter. We broke up 3 years ago. Knowing that and taking into consideration you believe me to be a cold, career focused, ego-maniac, what on earth makes you think I would take the time to think about you or agree to your proposal? But since I clearly have taken the time to respond, please take a moment to review some comments and counterproposals I have crafted.

1. First, I will have to resist the burning urge to move RIGHT NEXT DOOR TO YOU. After that deep desire subsides, I will vacate the Westside and return to my roots: The Snooty Northside, as you used to call it. However, since I was born on the Northside and I have Northside in my veins you must abdicate all ties to the North. This includes: Living on the Northside, living on the Northeastside, walking down North Street, being a fan of the Dallas Stars (formerly the Minnesota North Stars), wearing North Face apparel or telling your children that Santa lives at the North Pole.

1 (B). I was born in Indianapolis before you were so I should really get to determine who stays and who goes. In my benevolence I will let you exist here only within the St. Michael’s Parish boundary (MLK Dr. to High School Rd. and 56th Street to 10th St.) We will call this the S. Zone. This should be acceptable for you as your family lives across the street and there is a gas station, grocery, convenience store, your place of employment and a fire station. Exceptions can be made with my expressed written consent. You will be required to display a large tag in your windshield giving you permission to travel beyond the S. Zone.

2. I haven’t talked to your friends since we broke up. I think they got the message. However since we apparently are still in fourth grade, please have your friends meet me by the playground at recess so that I can tell them they have big fat heads and they aren’t my friends anymore.Do you agree? _______Yes ________No________Maybe

2 (B). One of the few times you let us do something fun, we visited some of my family friends on Geist. It was about eight years ago. We enjoyed their boat and home for several hours during a pre-500 party. Please jot them a note saying you are going to forget that ever happened. Please also offer to reimburse them for the boat gas, pool chlorine, air conditioning Freon, Dr. Pepper and anything else you consumed while you were there. I don’t have their address anymore, you can look it up.

3. Please let me know when your father runs for anything.I’m going to run against him.

3 (B). Thanks for staying out of Republican politics. Your heavyweight presence in the party will be sorely missed. I am very involved in ice hockey. I play recreationally and coach a youth team in the winter. I would prefer it if you could stop being involved in all things related to ice and ice hockey . You can use those instant first aid coldpaks to cool your drinks from now on. Also, my parents have been very involved with the Indianapolis 500 Festival for nearly 20 years. The month of May is really a big month for us. While I am not able to honor your request of moving out of Indianapolis, I would ask that you just leave town during May. With 250,000 fans going to the race and 35,000 runners in the Mini-Marathon, I don’t want to run the risk of bumping into you. I know your birthday is in May, but man, I just don’t care.

4. Christ, I don’t have the energy for this one.

5. If any of my friends from Wabash actually still talk to you, they are fucking fired as friends.

5 (B). I’m not going to tell my kids anything about you. But speaking of kids, it would be okay with me if my son was a crack addict, just as long as he got your kids hooked on it and became their dealer.

In closing, I will never make decisions about my life or my family based on whether I might run into you at the store. I am now convinced that if we ever do bump into each other, you will spontaneously combust. I wish you the best of luck find a spouse. Seriously. It won’t be easy to find a person who is willing to spend the rest of his life raising children and making decisions based on your crazy-ass proposal to an ex-boyfriend and your inability to act like a rational human being.

All my best,

D.

Whip It! The Movie

2008-08-01T15:19:00.014-04:00

Yesterday I spent 14 hours as an extra on the set of Whip It! A movie produced and directed by first-time director--Drew Barrymore! Holy shit--what an experience!

First of all, a little background. It is a movie about roller derby. set in Austin TX about a small town girl (Ellen page) who finds derby and it changes her life. It is being filmed in Detroit and Ann Arbor because of a new incentive that Michigan has to bring film productions to Michigan.

We were on set yesterday in a old steel warehouse in Hamtramack in Detroit. And this is a ROUGH area--let me tell you.

The set includes a banked track which is NOT what I will be skating on, or the majority of leagues are skating on in the country. Most use a flat track. The banked tracks are expensive to build, hard to store, and easier to get hurt on--so the existing 5 banked track leagues are based in Texas and California.

I reported to set at 1 pm with two of my fellow skaters from Glass City, Betty Block-her and Erica Panterica. We were called to our first scene I think at about 3:00 and we were placed in the stands disbursed with blow-up dummies to be the fillers in the stands. One of my fellow "actors" took this photo of me with a playmate of mine.

Taking photos were strictly forbidden. This photo was taken minutes after that rule was explained to us. We did not, however, take any actual photos that you would actually WANT to look at. I was too chicken.

So the next 4 hours were spent standing in a FUCKING hot as hell warehouse, under the hot lights of Hollywood, pantomiming a screaming crowd watching a derby event. This began to get torturous, but we were still having fun watching all of the stars, (more on that in a minute) when we realized that we only get little cups of warm water every 30 minutes or so. It got so bad, that when they started "granting" us bathroom breaks, no one really had to go because we were so dehydrated we didn't have to piss.

Then dinner. A catered bland roast beef, and veggie thing that we scarfed down like we were living in Darfur.

The second half of the "shift" began at 8:30 pm and we kept hearing rumors that it could go to 3:30 like it did the night before. No big deal. Union rules state they HAVE to feed us again after working a six hour shift. (keep in mind, it is still hot as hell and now we are all standing on pavement for sometimes 2 hours at a time with nothing but those fucking cups of warm water. I was wearing my converse tennis shoes, which have no support and my legs and back began to ache at about 4:00 PM!

By 3:00 am, people were BARELY standing. I can't believe that someone didn't pass out. People that had contacts had eyes drying up, everyone was STARVING. The second meal never did come. Eventually they released us out into the wonderful area of Detroit hungry and exhausted. It sucked. The three of us were actually hired to go back again today, but just physically could not handle another brutal day like that so we canceled.

From what I hear from some of the other "seasoned" extras: this was shitty treatment of the extras. Many of us were probably not going to return because it was so rough and they will probably be scrambling for more extras next week.

Now for the cool as shit stuff. As much as the experience sucked, it also kicked ass! I was in A LOT of close up shots and A LOT of crowd shots. I am pretty confident that I will make it into the movie somehow.

Who is in this movie:

Drew Barrymore

Drew was SOOOOO nice and cool. You could tell that everyone on the set respected her and she was very respectful of everyone else. Including the extras. (except for feeding us and letting us sit down) Even at the end when we were all dead on our feet she tried to talk with us and learn names as she positioned people into the correct spots.

Side note: TOO THIN! but beautiful.

Ellen Page

She is a nugget. The whole day people were looking for her, but she didn't appear in any scenes until after dinner. She was standing right next to me for probably 20 minutes before I figured out who she was.

My first impression (when I finally got a clue): very tiny and looks like she is 12. Seemed kind of nice, but didn't seem to make much of an impression on any of the extras. My friend got a snooty vibe from her, but I took it as shyness.

Kristen Wiig

I am a HUGE SNL fan and Kristen Wiig is the best cast mate they've got going and she rocked my world yesterday! She was in a scene where she was working behind a counter and Ellen approaches and talks to her. I was standing at the counter and as the camera came in on the train track thingy, I had to move out of the way so that Ellen could approach. My shoulder was supposed to be in the shot. (notice in the photo above that I had the flashdance look going) Well, Kristen and I were face to face for about an hour working on that shot and the whole time I was trying to come up with a way to say TURGET (Target) to her. [only SNL people will get that] Keep in mind that we are NOT supposed to speak to anyone unless spoken to.

By the way, she is too damn skinny as well. She is probably 5'7' and maybe 115 lbs.

Julliette Lewis

Juliette played the skater on the "mean" team so I think she was supposed to look slutty and bitchy. she nailed it.

Also too fucking skinny.

Eve

Eve looked SO cool. I wish that I was cool enough to listen to her music.

Jimmy Fallon

Fallon played 'hot tub Johnny'. He is the cheesy announcer that is hungover and makes nasty comments to all of the skaters. very will farrell-esque. He was the absolute coolest on the set. he would perform for all of the extras, come over and talk with us. Tell us to do certain things in the upcoming scenes, when the director had no idea that we were going to do it. At one point, he sang the entire Whitney Houston "I believe that children are our future..." song.

He was the only star that made an appearance in our mess tent during dinner. Just a really cool guy.

Alia Shawkat

This is the girl from Arrested Development. She has grown up folks! they had her dressed in a dress that should be a crime. Very curvy woman. freckles galore and huge eyes and eyelashes. Very beautiful.

Andrew Wilson

The hairier of the 3 Wilson brothers. The one that no one knows. He played a coach. Nice legs.

Me on the news!

2008-04-03T13:26:00.001-04:00

Saturday DDG Bout

2008-01-10T16:36:00.000-05:00

Whoops! It has been a month since my last posting! Christmas, New Years, blah, blah, blah.

The Glass City Rollers are working hard to get this league up and running in 2008. I am so excited to be a part of this and create it for our city!

For those of you who are still unsure as to what we are creating, you MUST come and experience the excitement of a Detroit Derby Girl Bout. This Saturday, January 12th, there will be a bout between two of their teams:

The Pistol Whippers vs. the Detroit Pistoffs

You can learn all of the details by clicking HERE!

If you want to go, be sure to LET ME KNOW so you can sit in the specially reserved section for the Glass City Rollers! You will feel like the rock stars that we already are!

Table

2007-12-09T21:37:00.000-05:00

We are attempting to sell our dining room table. We love this table. Over the years, friends have begged us to sell them our table. Now we are and where are they? We have posted it on Craigslist but I thought I would post it here and maybe someone might know of a good home for it.

It is a table from the 1950's and very cool. It comes with two leaves, four chairs and a custom-made table pad. $350 Contact me for more information.

MichelleRansomAtkinson@gmail.com

Come one, Come all!

2007-11-26T04:21:00.000-05:00

The next Detroit Derby Girl event is December 8th! I am determined to take as many friends and relatives to this event so that everyone can see what I am so stoked about. This is what Glass City Rollers strive to be!

So mark your calendars!

Toledo's Holiday Parade

2007-11-25T10:42:00.001-05:00

Yesterday the GlassCity Rollers were in the Downtown Toledo Holiday Parade. It was cold!

I have decided that since my stage name is Vodkillah, every event must be attended with vodka in hand to share. So I showed up yesterday at 8 am with a boda bag full of cider and vodka. While attempting to put the boda bag over my head/shoulder for easy access and travelability, my feet came flying out from underneath me, I fell onto my bum and sadly, the boda bag itself. Which, it being cheaply made by Walmart's contracted asian slave labor, broke. This prompted an emergency drinking of the vodka. waste not, want not.

Fast forward 5 minutes later into the fire station we were parked at. And you see the photos that were taken.....

Whoo boy! What a sex shot. The red fanny pack does it I know.

An hour later, we are at the staging area where we were desperately just trying to stay warm. This is me posed on the front of (on top of) Mark Moffet's art car.

This is the aforementioned Mark Moffet with his art car to the left.

And this is the whole gang. (yes, it is a pitiful number of rollergirls--all of the lame girls stayed home)

From the left: Stephen, Jana and their daughter, Mark (on the phone), Vodkillah (me),Ima Zombie, Punk Monkey, Mela-drama, Annie Wrecks-it, and Stephen's other daughter.

***editor's note: These photos were taken with a new camera. I am not sure if I should keep it or not. Please leave any comments about the quality of photos. (click on each photo to get larger images)*****

The best photo ever

2007-11-16T23:38:00.000-05:00

I got the best photo ever! A picture of me SIGNING MY FIRST AUTOGRAPH!!!! Do you love it or what?

Detroit Derby Girls Event

2007-11-13T15:45:00.000-05:00

I have no idea if this is going to work,(it is an 8 minute video) but here is the video from last weekend's event at the detroit derby girl bout. 6 skaters from our league faced 6 skaters from DDG. We were told to ham it up and have fun. I think it is safe to say that I had fun with it. I can't wait to get started and practice.

(I am the skater with the red helmet and black and white tights. Also, notice right after I get knocked out, it is down to two skaters. The "cast-offs" come in and steal the last chair. In the end, the Glass City Rollers were declared the winners, but it was out of pity)

My Debut into Acting

2007-11-06T22:52:00.000-05:00

Wait no more my fans! It is I, your humble thespian. TARTA's commercial for yesterday's levy featured not only yours truly, but also, Steve's grandmother, Kitty Loveday. Take a look. The title for the series is "Hands" and it is very moving piece focusing on the tortured life of a commuter unfortunate enough to have to ride public transportation. It was to provoke a feeling of compassion from "people like us". I don't know about you, but it made me shudder.

Kitty's hands are at the beginning, holding her wicker handbag circa 1982. (Her actual purse was way better looking than the prop that was provided) Then my hands/arms are seen holding the two bags of groceries. Notice my silver watch on the left wrist. I wore that so people I know would recognize me. I don't think anyone did. Which is why I have to post it.

Enjoy

The Bloody Bride 2007

2007-11-01T17:22:00.001-04:00

This is this year's Bloody Bride of Lincoln Woods. For some stupid reason, the fall time change did not happen yet, which resulted in trick or treat time to fall mostly in daylight hours. This really sucked.

This is what I do. I stroll through the yard VERY slowly, looking sad and holding a basket full of leaves. (candy beneath) When children approach me I slowly turn to them and stare into their eyes until they begin to shift their weight and get nervous. Then I slowly reach into the basket and pull out the candy along with some leaves and drop it into their bag. This is all happening so slowly that everyone is really uncomfortable. Sometimes, they begin to walk away before I am finished which then I will grab their bag and not let go. Or I will follow them slowly. Or I will lovingly touch their cheek. I never talk and I never break character. I also have a fog machine that I set off that freaks them out. This year I also added a black coffin and the fog rolls out from underneath it. Oh. And the music is going full blast. One track actually sounds like a child is getting hit. That is my favorite.

Toward the end of last night, I even wandered down the middle of the street. A van of screaming girls stopped. (8 year olds) I opened the back door and started to climb in. I think they all peed their pants.

I am starting to really get a reputation. A few people came armed with video cameras last night and told me that my house is their favorite stop. I wish I took video so that I could post it.

I hope your Halloween was as fun as mine!

Mavis

2007-10-28T17:15:00.000-04:00

Last night was an amazing and fun! I went to a huge costume party [alone as usual]. I am fortunate to have a lot of amazing friends in my life, but none that aren't lame when it comes to doing something fun and different.

So tell me that I am not daring. This is how I showed up to said party ALONE:

Meet MAVIS THE EVIL LUNCH LADY. That is a mole on my lip with 3 one-inch hairs sticking out of it. It kept getting into my beer all night.

This party had 100% costume participation and wow did people go all out. This was the host of the party. Most of the night, he had a suit on and was Borat. Twice he ran through the crowd dressed like this:

This was his pool table with a guy dressed in a very convincing costume of a PARTY GUEST WHO TRASHES A POOL TABLE. AKA: ASSHOLE.

Here is a more disturbing view of the scene:

Melanie Harris:

This costume was titled ORGY:

Give a man a glue gun.....

KID ROCK:

Two versions of the DICK IN A BOX:

DICK CHANEY:

And the more traditional....

The train is leaving the station

2007-10-25T11:31:00.001-04:00

All Aboard folks! There is finally news on the roller derby front! The practice space has been secured, our first fund raiser is being planned, and we will be featured in a half-time show of the Detroit Derby Girls first bout of the season!

Practice Space
Macomber H.S. in Downtown Toledo. Two nights a week (hopefully 8-10) most likely T/Th. To begin as soon as our legal paperwork is filed and we have insurance. Hopefully next week.

First Fund Raiser
This is to raise money for a few different things. Money to pay for the practice space. And money to begin making kick-ass cool merchandise to sell at future events. A little unorthodox, but a great idea none the less. We are setting up a brownie table in Bowling Green NEXT Saturday night between the bars and campus for AFTER the bars close. $1 a brownie--strategically set up right after everyone hits Taco Bell. The team will be there dressed up and skating the parking lot. This supposedly has been done before with amazing results. Wish us luck.

Half-Time Show
November 10 is the Detroit Derby Girls season opener and we have been asked to suit up and be in the half-time show! 6 Toledo girls against 6 Detroit girls in the battle of musical chairs! (We have been told that the chairs are inflatable because folding chairs hurt too much) I am freaking out at this point, because I am not any where NEAR being able to do this, but most likely will be one of the six.....pray for me!

Watch for the article in the Blade. I'll post when it is published. They have a story waiting to go to press as soon as our practice times are decided upon. Wooooo Hoooooo!

My First Public Appearance

2007-09-16T11:26:00.000-04:00

Friday night was an Art Loop in downtown Toledo. The Glass City Roller Girls were to dress up and skate around the art galleries to pass out stickers and fliers. After 1 stop, the two girls I was with, dumped the plan and decided to hit the bars. We were met with such enthusiasm and had so much fun! We were out until 2:30 am and just had a blast. Only took a few photos.

Kaleidoscopes

2007-09-12T14:29:00.001-04:00

Here is the start of it:

I have completed five of the 25 twelve inch blocks. This photo shows 4 "dark" blocks. There will be a mixture of light and dark blocks which will create an illusion of a kaleidoscope. An example is shown here:

Bits and Pieces

2007-09-09T14:21:00.001-04:00

It is that time of year when it is time to do the quilt for the Adopt America Network Charity Auction. Every year, my friend Debbie and I pull together a quilt for the October event. The past few years, we have chosen designs based on a favorite designer, Kaffe Fassett. It took the guess work out of what the design and fabric should be.

This year, I wanted to design one myself. I found an amazing book of Japanese inspired quilt blocks to help me pull it together. I really like the two color designs of the blocks and making a bunch of different block designs, but in the same fabrics. These are a few of the blocks that I have made just messing around. I am not inspired to move in a particular direction at this point. I love the dragon fly fabric, it is definitely Japanese feeling. but I am stuck.

These are four of the blocks:

And of course, since I have a large project looming over my head, I have been doing nonsence sewing. Just stuff that I have been procrastinating. I have never been able to follow a pattern, so I am forcing myself to make simple projects from patterns. This bag that I made is from the book: Simple Sewing. Isn't it cute? But it has no lining and no pockets. I have so much to learn.....

Derby update:
Many things happening.
-I have been skating every day for about a half an hour. My ankles hurt and I haven't fallen yet. I need to get ready for the Detroit "fresh meat" training program. As soon as I can pass the basic test, a few of us begin the intense program under Detroit Derby Girls help.
-I am an official member of the board. Treasurer
-Practice space is being nailed down.
-I am ordering my skates and pads this week.
-We have our first public appearance this Friday. The Toledo Arotmatic 419 event on Sept 14. We will be skating in groups in several bars. whoo hoo!

A Heavy Hit for our Family...

2007-08-28T15:51:00.000-04:00

Well, I am sorry to say that Steve's logo was not selected. The one chosen was:

Mark posted:

As you can see from the poll, it was very close. The jurors had many
favorites. They took into account, the poll numbers, usability and
personal choice. Each jury vote was counted equally as a poll vote, so
your vote had the same value.

Kelly's image was chosen for a few reasons, but primarily because:

- If you look at artists alone, all of Kelly's entries were very well
received. "Silhoutte" was one of her top vote getters. However, I
think we would also use her other entries.

- The juror's liked it for it's simplicity and that it is equality
readable, both large and very small. This helps when we use the logo
on letterheads, helmet stickers or t-shirts.

I can't say that I am not disappointed. The one they chose is very common looking. Steve wasn't not upset, because he was utltimately not happy with his submissions. Perfectionists.

Bone Marrow

Many of you are aware that my 8 year old niece Jamarielle (aka JAM)has Cancer. I have asked many of you to consider becoming a bone marrow donor. If by any chance you were not registering to become a donor because it costs $52, let me know. Jessica has a credit with www.marrow.org that will allow you to register for free. So let me know. All you have to do to register is swab your mouth for a DNA sample (very CSI isn't it?) and they add you to the national list. Then if anyone is a match, you will be notified.

do it.

More Stage Names....

2007-08-27T09:12:00.000-04:00

Wow! You people are really pulling through for me! Check out these submissions from insomniac Chris in Seattle:

Betty Clocker
Menstrina Cramp
The Tower Twins (get a partner)
Gerry Atra
Micha Spitz
Vee-Six
Lisa Condo
Camille Tow
Broadzilla
Grabiella
Holly Roller
Whip Lashes
Aunt Acid
Trippy Pinchweed

And these are from the Ish-man! And you can tell just by reading them too!

Maul'n Momma or Maul'n Michelle
The Missile
Michelle the Missile
Mash'n Michelle
The Face Masher
As$ kicking Michelle (Atkinson kinda sounds like ass kicking)
Missing Link
Miss Congeniality (not)
Misaligned
Misguided
Misery
Misdiagnosed
Mangl'n Michelle
The Misfit
Murder'n Michelle
Mosh Pit Michelle
Mofo Michelle (aka Michelle the Mofo)
THE MOFO
The Fo
TKO Mofo
Maniacal Michelle
Murder'n Michelle Manendez (aka Lyle and Eric's little sister)
B!tch on Wheels, or Bee-otch
The Toledo Twister
Ruthless Rita, Roxanne, Renee (pick one)
Face Plant Fran
Skidmark
Woodburn Wanda
Frunkussssssssss
F-bomb Fran
For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge
The Pink Panther Pounder
The M*A*S*H* - er
Klinger's Bitch
Roller Girl
Heather Graham
Rink Rocker
Rink Rebel
Rink Wrecker
Circular Saw
Circle Jerk (er)
360 Psycho
Spinning Psycho Girl
Camel Toe Kicker
Taint Kicker
Why does by right skate always smell like tuna ?
Pull my Finger Fran
F@rt Knocker

Whoooweee! There are some good ones in that list! (Taint Kicker, Why does my right skate always smell like tuna? And then bringing Klinger into it. pure genius!) I think we have had a disturbing look into Ish's mind...

I changed the options on this blog so you should be able to leave a comment without registering. So be sure to leave your opinions on which are your favorites.

I will post the logo winner later in the day. There has been some kind of delay in the process.

First Entry

2007-08-26T10:02:00.000-04:00

This all began last weekend when my MySpace received a very rare invitation to become someones' friend. It was rare, because they weren't trying to sell me a cell phone. It was the Glass City Roller Girls. I immediately got a pit in my stomach from excitement. I attended a Roller Derby event in Columbus last year and was immediately hooked. Come hell or high water, I want to try out for a spot on a team. But Toledo doesn't have a team. Enter Mark.

Mark is a retired Toledo firefighter and artist, who has decided that Toledo needs a Roller Derby and is committed to do all of the leg-work (there is A LOT) to get her up and running. I met him last week when a few of us went up to Detroit for a meet and greet with the Detroit Derby Girls. They are guiding us through this process and helping Mark in many ways.

LOGO Contest
The logo contest is taking place today. Last week I was gently nudging Steve to work on an entry. He has been under a lot of stress lately at work and having terrible luck with his health. Last week he had to have a tooth extracted, which should have been a relief on the pain. But it became infected and the pain got even worse. He somehow went to work all week and on Wednesday was walking through the bus garage and inhaled bus fumes (some asshole was too lazy to turn on the building's exhaust fans) and landed in the ER. All during this week, he did put in some hours in on his logo submission, but it just wasn't there yet. Until Friday night, an hour before the deadline, he showed me his latest. How cool! I am so excited and proud of him. I really hoped that it is picked. We should know which one is picked tomorrow.

Below are the 13 submissions. Steve's are the last 4. The last one with the face is my favorite:

Stage Name
So I need a stage name. It is the most important part of this process. Well maybe not as important as practicing so I dont kill myself, but right now it is consuming my life and many others. Many friends and family members are vying for the privilege of picking my name. It is becoming very difficult at this point. I have pages and pages of ideas. I think this blog can be a great spot for everyone to brainstorm together and nail this. One of the Detroit girls told me it took her 3 months to decide on a name. And she went with E. Norma Sass.

My sister asked her 8 year old daughter for help. She says "Jam, we need the meanest , toughest, nickname for aunt michelle that you can think of." Jam then thinks it out long and hard and comes up with the name: JANICE. And right now Janice, in its simplicity is actually pulling ahead. Bi-Polar Janice is a spin on that that we love as well.

Here is what the name needs. Got to sound intimidating. And I would like it to have something to do with me. ie: drinker, mom, crafter, pilates, age related (since I 'll probably be the oldest skater). And it has to be something that my kids can tell to other people. Meaning it can't have bad words in it. I know. That sucks.

There is a link that lists all 9000 registered stage names so you can get the idea of how this works. I am not allowed to copy another name.

So lets list some of the favorites:
Vod-kill-ah
Bi-Polar Janice
Miss Hell (sounds like michelle)
Hippy Momma
Cougar Killa